The Northeast Recycling Council (NERC) and the Northeast Waste Management Officials’ Association (NEWMOA) have entered into a five-year agreement to jointly address the solid waste challenges in the northeast, including food scraps reduction, recovery and management; recyclables collection and impacts on manufacturing and end-users; product stewardship; climate and impacts on the recycling and solid waste infrastructure; and construction and demolition materials.

“This is an exciting collaboration for NERC,” said NERC Executive Director Lynn Rubinstein in a statement. “ As an organization celebrating its 30th anniversary, it is a moment of dynamic change and to be entering into a significant action plan with a fellow organization presents a significant opportunity to further our mission and effect great change in the region.”

The goal of the duo’s Strategic Action Plan is to further each of the organization’s missions and strengthen each organization through collaboration. NERC has a mission to promote sustainable materials management by supporting traditional and innovative solid waste best practices, focusing on waste prevention, toxics reduction, reuse, recycling and organics recovery. And NEWMOA has a mission to provide a strategic forum for effectively solving environmental problems through collaborative regional initiatives that advance pollution prevention and sustainability, promote safer alternatives to toxic materials in products, identify and assess emerging contaminants, facilitate adaption to climate change, mitigate greenhouse gas sources, promote reuse and recycling of wastes and diversion of organics, support proper management of hazardous and solid wastes and facilitate cleanup of contaminant releases to the environment.

“Our partnership with NERC has been evolving over the past few years, and this Strategic Action Plan represents an exciting milestone as we embark on collaborating to address critical solid waste issues in the region,” said NEWMOA Executive Director Terri Goldberg in a statement.